Firefighters, nurses top list of most respected professions in Canada: poll

Firefighters and nurses are the only professionals respected by more than nine-in-ten Canadians, a new Canada-wide Insights West poll has found.

In the online survey released Thursday, 92 per cent of Canadians say they have a positive opinion of firefighters, while 91 per cent feel the same way about nurses.

Meanwhile, more than four-in-five Canadians said they have positive views on farmers, doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers, veterinarians and architects.

The annual survey asked about 1,000 respondents to say whether they had a positive or negative opinion of a list of more than 20 professions.

According to Insights West, Canadian views have changed over the years on how they feel about certain jobs.

Compared to the 2017 survey, pollsters and journalists each saw an eight per cent boost, while auto mechanics saw a 12 per cent drop and actors, artists, priests and ministers each saw a seven per cent drop.

And while there’s always loved professions, there’s also the least trusted.

Six professions garnered a particularly negative review by Canadians, including lawyers, realtors and real estate agents, business executives and pollsters, the poll suggests.